What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word Wolves? Many people would say, Alphas. For years, society has associated wolves with an aggressive social hierarchy, with an alpha male at the top. This has influenced people’s view of wolves. Fictional media has often depicted wolves as monstrous beasts, hell-bent on satisfying their bloodlust. This view of wolves has also influenced the minds of modern young men. Some of those in the millennial and Z generations are identifying themselves with this idea of an Alpha male. An Alpha male is often thought of as someone who takes charge, who is tough and confident, someone you do not want to mess with.
But are these influences based on an accurate knowledge of wolf pack dynamics? The answer is simply no. The origins of this pecking order theory came from studying wolves that were fighting one another; the strongest or most aggressive among them came out on top. The weaker wolves seemed to submit to the winners of this social ladder. But here’s the thing: these wolves did not know each other, and they were forced to live together in captivity. Now captivity, when done properly, can be helpful in the preservation of a species; in this case, though, it was used to learn about how wolves behave. Animals behave on how they can best survive in an environment, so if their environment changes, then their behavior will change also.
In the wild, a male and female wolf mate and have babies; the babies grow up into yearlings, and the parents have more children. These groups are usually made up of six to ten members, and eventually the eldest of the siblings will leave to find their own mates and continue the cycle. They do not fight each other for dominance, because it is not a social ladder; it is a family. The wolves in captivity were not family; they were random strangers trapped together in a strange place. The “leaders” of wild wolf packs are simply parents raising their children. In this captivity study, these were not fathers raising their children; these were scared animals just trying to keep themselves safe. Why does this revelation matter?
Because it shows just how much an unnatural environment can change the way an animal acts. Humans are also animals. The way society is set up is very unnatural. Our economics, our routines, our politics, our technology, our wars, our pollution, it is all unnatural. Modern science can indeed help us in many ways, but most of what mankind has made up has been for the sake of productivity, money, power, or fame. The powerful may benefit temporarily from this structure, but the majority of the population suffers for it in the long term. We are becoming disconnected from each other, fighting to be one of the lucky few that succeeds in this society. We’re relying on distractions and addictions to comfort us, when we were never meant to need those comforts in the first place.
We are like those wolves held in captivity, when we are supposed to be like the wild wolves who take care of each other. We can ease this great societal trauma by living more naturally; we are part of the environment after all. We can use modern science to live more in harmony with nature, rather than destroying it and ourselves. We can use history to not repeat the same mistakes of the past.
There is still hope; it is not too late. We can break free from this cycle of aggression.
(Information Source: Biologist David Mech’s Study “Alpha Status, Dominance, and Division of Labor in Wolf Packs”, 1999)